Mutual Benefits
by Barachi
Summary: What were Zero and Kaname thinking in that basement, in Zero's prison? When Zero is threatened by the ever present insanity how long will Kaname save him from the madness? Is it just for Yuki?


_**AN~**__I haven't written much recently. Actually, to be more accurate, I haven't submitted anything recently. I'm sorry to all you folks who've been waiting for me to to work on KSHF but I don't think I'll ever finished it. If one of you lovely readers would like to adopt it I'm sure everyone would appreciate it. I've been reading and watching a lot of Vampire Knight lately. So much so in fact that I've been having nonstop dreams about it. Driving me nuts to be honest. I decided that I wanted to post my own view on the relationship between Kaname and Zero. To be completely honest, I used to hate Kaname's guts because I thought he was a) creepy as hell and b) gross because he wanted to have sex with his oblivious sister. Then I watched the series-in english this time-and decided that he wasn't so bad. Reading a bunch of fics about him helped me along with my little revelation._

_Anyway, this is my new creation. Enjoy..._

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**_Chapter One_**

**_Into the Cruel Grasp of Agony  
_**

Zero gasped sharply. God, it hurt so much to even breathe. Every time he inhaled, he swallowed in the vain hope to at least ease the burning with his own spit. Of course, the ex-human knew beyond a doubt it wouldn't help. Water wasn't what he needed but he couldn't stop himself from going through with the futile attempts.

Desperately, Zero gripped his throat miserably and ground his teeth as flashes of agony welled up inside him. Oh, how dearly he wished Shizuka had just killed him. There could be no hell worse than sitting helplessly as his body screamed for the blood it so desperately needed. Times like this were why he hated himself so fiercely.

No creature should sustain itself with the blood of another. It was unnatural.

_He_ was unnatural.

Zero was dying, he held no allusions otherwise, he'd accepted his inevitable fate from the moment he'd recovered enough from that woman's bite to pull out of the numb shell of shock. He lashed out at anyone who got too close.

Then he met Yuki. She cooled his burning anger. Innocent, so purely innocent. When she talked to him, she make him remember Ichiru. His sweet, pure twin. Ichiru had been so weak but his eyes always glowed.

Recalling his brother sent another bolt of pain knifing in Zero's throat and further down in his heart. Screwing his eyes closed, just wanting the never-ending torture in his veins to kill him, Zero could clearly hear his own blood in his wrist.

Struck by an unrivaled desperation, the boy clamped his fangs onto his arm. His almost violent drinking spilled more blood than what was actually going into his mouth. That itself would have been alarming if Zero hadn't stopped just as suddenly as he'd begun, his blood had a sour, tainted taste.

Groaning painfully, the ex-human just let his arm fall the the hard granite floor.

Hoping to distract himself, Zero peered around his prison, though, after the unbearably long week he'd been there, he didn't expect to see anything new.

Zero was freezing; the stone floor constantly sapping the heat from his body save for the thick lines of warmth from the ancient hunter rune that was etched into the ground. It wasn't a kind warmth, however. It trapped him in its burning clutches, keeping him from the vampire powers that could have freed him.

He was almost desperate enough to want the powers that he'd been forced to accept. Almost enough to forget that, in his state, he might very well go after Yuki. If he'd been completely himself and not so agonizingly close to loosing his mind and dropping to level E, the sheer self-abandon would have terrified him.

As it was, the second another person entered to room Zero lashed out, flying towards the hot, sweet blood he could practically taste flowing in their body.

Snarling and snapping, the boy was halted by the chains dangling from his wrists. The other man watched him dispassionately.

Zero was a pitiful sight; blood dripping down his chin, his eyes glowing with bloodlust, each gasping, raged breath revealing sharp fangs. The worst, however, was the quiet, half-heard whimper of both pain and shame.

The ex-human, too, knew he looked awful. Four years hiding his true, wretched self, the beast inside, and this was where Zero had landed. Rock bottom as an uncontrolled level E. The boy shuddered but didn't know if it was rage, cold, fear, pain or embarrassment.

He settled on bitter resentment. He hadn't asked Kuran to come and harass him.

Or to come and save him-

Wait. Kuran was offering himself; practically shoving his neck into Zero's mouth.

"Don't get the wrong idea." the pureblood muttered before Zero could decide if he was revolted or relieved. "I'm not doing this for you. I couldn't care less if you starved and shriveled up down here. But Yuki is sad and I won't let your death cause her to suffer. You're her shield and a shield can't be in the pathetic state you're in."

Zero growled in anger. He knew he was pathetic, he didn't need some disgusting vampire to tell him so.

Instead of answering, the boy sank his throbbing fangs into Kaname Kuran's displayed flesh.

Kaname pretended not to notice that Zero hadn't made any promises but was well aware that the boy wouldn't betray Yuki. He wasn't blind, he could see the glaringly obvious love that Zero held toward the girl. But he'd never admit it. Kiryuu was an idiot that way.

Eventually, as Kaname felt himself growing dizzy, Zero stopped feeding and reluctantly withdrew his fangs.

He could have drained the pureblood and still wanted more. Yuki's blood was good but Zero never imagined he'd consider Kuran's infinitely better. Floating in the aftereffects of drinking, Zero hardly registered that before that moment, he wouldn't have been caught dead even thinking such a repulsive thought.

"Are you finished?" Kaname asked, using his condescending tone to cover his weakened status. The question was more of a stall for time to collect himself so he could stand back up.

Zero nodded silently, coming back down from the bloodhigh, hiding his face behind his hair.

Kaname sneered; Kiryuu _would_ be embarrassed where other vampires, even the highest aristocrats, would, and had, begged on hands and knees for even a taste of the pure blood that this unworthly example of a hunter had just devoured.

_I will do anything to protect Yuki._

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_** AN~**Hope you liked my first chappie. I meant for that last line to be either of our vampire boys to be saying but the more I read over it the more it sounds like Kaname's saying it. If anyone's reading this, that was actually supposed to be either/both of them thinking it._

_Review. I appreciate all your love and am willing to pass out virtual cookies for them._

_Flames will be given to Akatsuki Kain to play with._


End file.
